Upper Deck #4: Uprising

I never did anything with the deck yesterday as I had some errands I had to run. This morning I started about 8:00 making sure that I had everything in place to rise the deck.

Up inside the door I have a 4×4 36” long that is resting on either side of the door frame. It is kept 3’ off the floor with a strapping legs. I will use this 4×4 as a place to tie off the deck as I tip it up. You can see the heavy duty tie down straps that I will be using to pull the deck into position. Also note the vertical 2×8s screwed to the deck.

I am using my car jack to raise the deck 6” and then I relocate the 2×8s by dropping them 6”. I then release the jack, build up the base under the jack and raise the deck another 6”. I did this several times until the deck was about 3’ off the ground.

Here are a couple of lifting progress pics.

When I had it 3” off the ground I went upstairs and pulled of the straps. No go. Hmmmmmm. DW then came outside and said “why don’t you use the come-along”. Doh . . . why didn’t I think of that. In the picture below you can see the red strap connecting the steel cable of the come-along. I have removed the vertical 2×8s.

Here I am ratcheting the come-along and rising the deck. The cable is about as far as I can pull it in at this point in time.

The bolts are sliding into the mortises.

Here I am bracing the deck as I have to release the come-along and shorten the strap.

Another view of bracing the deck.

Here I have shortened the strap and reattached the come-along. You can see where the red strap attached to the steel cable.

After a little more ratcheting the deck falls into place. Here I am screwing in a lag.

Putting washers and nuts on the bolts that came through the mortises.

Looking up through.

I reworked some of the bracing and started working on the stringers. Tomorrow I will have to add the back deck posts and start the decking.

Yep I sure did stake it . . . there are 4 8” galvanized spikes in that block of wood. After you pointed out what happened to a fellow Jock I got a little worried so I increased the safety factor. This is it.

With the block in place (driven 8” into the ground) the ladder will not move. That being said I am still cautious.

I will probably tie myself off with a safety harness when doing the decking. It is a looooong way down.

We are not fond of pressure treated lumber. If you notice the pics you will see the black on the bottom plate. This is ice shield. I use it to keep the wood from touching concrete. It will not allow moisture to get between the concrete and wood.

Actually Dave . . . there was a guy working on a set of deck stairs next door and he was staring at me more than working at the deck. The owners were not home so I guess he had no one looking over his shoulder. :-)

Those Egyptians and their pyramids having nothing on you when it comes to building. Getting that into place by yourself is pretty spiffy work. You’re making good progress and it is sure to be a handsome addition to the house.

So, will there be stairs coming down from there? Or is it more of a jumping off point?